# Restrict Topic Replies to Topic Owner only
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [November 8, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634 "2018-11-08T20:38:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mbf199t](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mbf199t)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634/1 "2018-11-08T20:38:04Z")
Hi Guys
I have a question. I’m a complete newb, so apologies if this is obvious, but I’ve been searching for a couple of days and had to resort to the old-fashioned method of asking the question.
Without any super-complex hacks, is it possible to allow Discourse user groups to be able to create a topic, but not allow anyone else to reply? The idea - for context, is to allow people to post, with the only follow-up method being a private message to the topic poster.
It’s not a problem for the original creator to be able to reply/update/edit the original topic, and everyone should be able to view the topic, but replies should be private…
Any advice gratefully appreciated…
mbf199t
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### Author:  [@Stephen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Stephen)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634/2 "2018-11-08T20:47:36Z")
No, that’s not what topics are for.
Close the topics and include at link at the bottom to automate PM’ing the OP.
Example: `https://meta.discourse.org/new-message?username=codinghorror`
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### Author:  [@mbf199t](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mbf199t)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634/3 "2018-11-08T20:50:15Z")
Granted, it’s an off-spec use case for discourse. The problem is, it’s probably the best tool for the job, if only I can make it work.
In terms of closing the topic, I can set them to close almost instantly by using 0.0001 in the “automatically close topics” setting, which I think still allows the OP to edit the topic regardless…I just wondered if there was a neater way to do it. 😛
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### Author:  [@Stephen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Stephen)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634/4 "2018-11-08T20:54:57Z")
That’s about as neat as you’re going to get. No permission modes exist for individual replies in a topic to be hidden. Permissions are set at the category level and are assigned to groups, not individual users.
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### Author:  [@mbf199t](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mbf199t)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634/5 "2018-11-08T20:58:34Z")
Thank you very much for clarifying. 👍
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### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restrict-topic-replies-to-topic-owner-only/101634/6 "2018-12-08T20:58:38Z")
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